Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series first broadcast on the ITV network on 9 October 1984. It is based on The Railway Series books created by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. The series centers on anthropomorphic vehicles living on the fictional Island of Sodor. Its characters were unvoiced, except for the narrator, until the series switched to computer animation in 2009.

Characters

Actor Region Role(s) Notes Joseph May US Thomas From The Adventure Begins to series 24 John Hasler UK UK/US Rheneas Series 20 Jonathan Broadbent UK/US William (Bill), Benjamin (Ben), and the first slip coach Teresa Gallagher – green check mark indicates roles that have been verified by BTVA through closing credits UK Emily, Lady Hatt (season 13, "Day of the Diesels" and season 15), Mavis (seasons 13–16), the Duchess of Boxford, Stephen Hatt ("Diesel's Special Delivery"), Bridget Hatt, Bridget Hatt's friends, the teacher, the laundry lady, little boy in white and light-blue striped shirt and red shorts, some children, the school children, little girl in a red dress, the blonde-haired girl, and the blond-haired boy US A blonde-haired girl "Very Important Sheep" A blond-haired boy "Very Important Sheep" UK/US Belle, Frieda, Gina (The Great Race), Mavis (FQC 1), Annie, Clarabel, Judy, Cassia (Big World! Big Adventures!), the Duchess of Boxford ("Percy's Lucky Day"), Lady Hatt ("The Afternoon Tea Express" and Season 21 onwards), the teacher (Season 18), the ginger-haired boy, the shouting little boy, a woman with a large hat, some passengers, the Knapford Station speaker ("The Adventure Begins"), some children ("The Adventure Begins" onwards), the school children ("Lost Property"), Stephen Hatt, Bridget Hatt, a woman in a blue dress, a Barrow fan ("Reds vs. Blues" and "Useful Railway"), Albert's wife ("Thomas the Babysitter" and "Unscheduled Stops"), a woman in a spring-green dress, a puppet-show presenter, a girl in a turquoise dress with pink flowers, a woman in a white dress and gray vest, a woman in a white shirt, light-brown skirt and hat, a woman in a light-gray shirt, dark gray skirt and a pearl necklace, a chubby boy in a dark-green shirt and dark-gray shorts, a woman in a yellow dress and hat, a blonde girl, a woman in a red-and-indigo hat and white-and-gray dress, female passengers Madeleine's mother, Brenda and the Sodor Rangers Rasmus Hardiker UK/US William (Bill), Philip and the Troublesome Trucks ("The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor") UK Monty Steven Kynman UK Porter, Jack, Racing Car #3 and the Dock Manager ("Tale of the Brave") US Charlie The Great Race Butch Series 17–24 UK/US Montague (Duck), Ryan (series 20 onwards), Dart (Season 17 onwards), Paxton ("Blue Mountain Mystery" onwards), Peter Sam, "The Third Slip Coach", a workman ("Journey Beyond Sodor"), railway inspector (Season 17), bird-watcher ("Who's Geoffrey?"), child Joe Mills Donald (series 18—19), Douglas, Oliver, Toad, Welsh bird-watcher ("Thomas and the Emergency Cable"), a Knapford Station yard worker ("Toad and the Whale"), passenger ("Confusion Without Delay") Tracy-Ann ObermanUK/US Daisy Series 20–24 Nigel Pilkington UK Percy and Trevor Series 19–24 Christopher Ragland US UK/US The Troublesome Trucks ("The Adventure Begins" onwards), Racing Car #4, cowboys, passenger John Schwab US Stanley Series 20, except "Saving Time" Rob Rackstraw UK Toby UK/US James (UK "Tit for Tat" series 24; US The Adventure Begins series 24), Stanley, Owen, Donald (series 20 onwards), small controller, Bradford, Hugo, Big Mickey, Bernie, Professor Friederich, thin clergyman, Monty, Thief 1 Kerry Shale UK/US Diesel (UK series 13–24; US series 19–24) US Sir Topham Hatt (Hero of the Rails series 18), Henry, Gordon, James (Hero of the Rails season 18), Kevin Martin Sherman US Thomas, Percy, Diesel ("King of the Railway", series 18) Hero of the Rails through series 18 Ben Small UK/US Rheneas, Flynn (series 17), Owen and Troublesome Trucks Series 16–18 UK Thomas, Toby and Ferdinand Hero of the Rails through series 18 US Stanley and Charlie Series 15–18 Keith Wickham UK Edward, Henry, Gordon, James ("Hero of the Rails", The Great Race except "Tit for Tat"), Percy (Hero of the Rails, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure except series 19), Whiff, Dash, Harold, thin controller, railway coal inspector, man at the fire, Wellsworth Station worker, fat controller's assistant, workers, passengers, Gator's driver, and a steamworks worker UK/US Harvey, Glynn, Salty, Den, Norman, Stafford, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Arlesdale Bert, Bertie, Captain, Sir Topham Hatt/fat controller (UK Hero of the Rails series 24; US The Adventure Begins series 24), Dowager Hatt, Sir Lowham Hatt, Lord Callan, photographer ("Wild Water Rescue"), railway inspector, composer, Maron Station speaker, Wellsworth Stationmaster, Thomas' Guard, grumpy passenger, Father Christmas, groundsman, Tom Tipper, Gordon's driver (The Adventure Begins), James' guard (The Adventure Begins), Knapford Station worker (The Adventure Begins), workers, signallers, dock manager ("Who's Geoffrey?" only), a Sodor search & rescue centre worker ("Toad and the Whale"), the policemen, a Diver (Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure), Some Passengers, Albert ("Thomas the Babysitter"), Mr. Bubbles, the Welsh Bird Watcher ("Sidney Sings and Three Steam Engines Gruff"), one of Dowager Hatt's friends ("Best Engine Ever" and "Sidney Sings"), the Museum Manager, the Male Puppet show Entertainer, Willie, Franz, the Station Announcer, a Child ("Gordon Gets the Giggles"), The Mainland Stationmaster, Thomas' Driver, Thomas' Fireman, and the Elderly Man. Matt Wilkinson UK Spencer, Stanley, Charlie, Bash, Scruff, Rocky, Cranky, Carter, Butch (season 16 onwards), Kevin, Tony, Stephen Hatt ("Thomas and the Runaway Kite"), Farmer McColl, the Duke of Boxford, photographer (series 16), Maithwaite stationmaster, Farmer Trotter, Knapford stationmaster, bird-watcher ("Henry's Good Deeds"), blond boy ("Merry Misty Island"), dock manager, railway inspector, dock workers, island inspector, Sodor search-and-rescue centre manager, Blue Mountain Quarry worker, zookeeper, man with hat UK/US Ben, Diesel 10, Winston, Rusty, Merrick, Captain Joe, workers, passengers, man in blue-grey shirt, off-white shorts and aquamarine hat

Narrators Actor Region Years Series Movies Notes Ringo Starr UK 1984–86 First two series US 1989–90 Series 1–2. Narrated episodes on Shining Time Station as Mr. Conductor; re-recorded parts of narration on request of PBS. George Carlin 1991–96 Series 3–4Re-dubbed first two series Series 3–4; re-dubbed series 1–2. Narrated episodes of Shining Time Station as Mr. Conductor. Michael Angelis US 2004 Series 6–7 Two episodes of series 6 and four episodes of series 7 UK 1991–2012 Series 3–16 "Calling All Engines", "Hero of the Rails", "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", Blue Mountain Mystery Series 3–16Alec Baldwin US 1999–2003 Series 5–6"Thomas and the Magic Railroad" (as Mr. Conductor) Series 5, "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", series 6 Michael Brandon 2004–2013 Series 7–16Re-dubbed season 6 "Calling All Engines", "Hero of the Rails", "Misty Island Rescue", "Day of the Diesels", "Blue Mountain Mystery" Series 7–16 Pierce Brosnan UK, US 2008 Original cuts of season 12 The Great DiscoveryThe Great Discovery, series 12 (early workprints) Mark Moraghan 2013–17 Series 17–21Re-dubbed series 13–15 "King of the Railway", "Tale of the Brave", "The Adventure Begins", "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure", "The Great Race", "Journey Beyond Sodor""King of the Railway" through "Journey Beyond Sodor" John Hasler UK 2018–21 Series 22–24 "Big World! Big Adventures!" through series 24 as Thomas the Tank Engine Joseph May US

Timeline Series Narrator Model series: 1984–2008 CGI series: 2009–21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Ringo Starr Michael Angelis UnitedKingdom UK United Kingdom US George Carlin US United States Alec Baldwin US Michael Brandon United States Mark Moraghan US John Hasler UK Thomas Joseph May US

Specials and films Narrator Model era: 2000–08 CGI era: 2009–17 Alec Baldwin Michael Angelis United Kingdom United Kingdom Michael Brandon United States United States Pierce Brosnan Mark Moraghan

A green cell indicates the narrator who officially narrated the series. An orange cell indicates the narrator who re-narrated the series. Pierce Brosnan narrated the original cut of series 12, but withdrew from the series, and his narrations were left unreleased.

References

External links

Official websites

Awdry Family site

Other site